Fire extinguisher head assembly



March 9 c. K. HUT-HSING, sR., EIAL 2,878,683

FIRE EXTINGUISHER HEAD ASSEMBLY Filed Dec. 5, 1956 INVENTORS C HAQLES K.HUTHSING SQ. AND

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2,878,683 v FIRE nxrnvcmsunn HEAD ASSEMBLY Charles K. Huthsing, Sr.,Culver City, and Ira J. Billings, L

Los Angeles, Calif., assignors to General Pacific Corporation, acorporation of California Application December 5, 1956, Serial No.626,336

3 Claims. (Cl. 74-101) This invention relates generally to fireextinguishers and more particularly to an improved head assembly forportable type fire extinguishers.

Chemical fire extinguishers of the type under consideration basicallyconsist of a pressure tank containing a chemical under extremely highpressure. A valve mechanism is provided in the head assembly of the tankfor releasing the extinguishing agent through a suitable x order todischarge a volume of the extinguishing agent sufiicient to effectivelycombat a fire.

Conventional valving mechanisms usually include a lever pivoted to thehead assembly of the extinguisher and adapted to be rotated to depress avalve stem. This valve stem connects to a valve body normally biasedagainst a valve seat by a relatively strong spring. Depression of thestem in an axial direction upon pivoting movement of the lever serves tounseat the valve and permit the extinguishing agent under pressure toescape. The extent of this longitudinal movement determines, in largepart, the degree of opening effected between the valve member and seat.When this stem movement is effected directly by the lever, it isnecessarily limited by the arcuate extent through which the lever may bemoved. For rapid and elfici ent operation, however, it isdesirable thatonly a small movement of the ever 'be necessary to provide a maximumopening through the valve structure.

Bearing the above in mind, it is a primary object of the 2,878,683Patented Mar. 24,1959

. 2 with an engaging means for engaging one end of the second lever. Theother end of the second lever is arranged to in turn engage the valvestem. The arrangement is such that angular movement of the first leverwill effect a greater angular movement of the second lever which. inturndepresses the valve stem through a given distance. This givendistance is multiplied over the given distance the stem could bedepressed by direct engage- .ment of the operating first lever throughthe mechanical arrangement and dimensioning'ofthe first and secondlevers.

A better understanding of this valving arrangement in accordance withthe invention will. be had by-refern'ng to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Figure 1 is an elevational view'partly in cross section of the improvedvalve actuating mechanism as incorporated in a fire extinguisher headassembly in accordance with the invention; and

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 .illustrating the actuatingmechanism in operated "position.

Referring first to Figure'l, .there is illustrated the upper portion ofa conventional fire extinguisher tank 10. This tank is arranged to becoupled to a fire extinguisher head assembly 11 through the medium of athreaded fitting 12 arranged to mate with an annular collar 13positioned about the lower end ofthe head assembly 11. The fitting 12and collar 13 engage a portion of an annular sealing gasket 14, asshown, to insure a gas tight seal between the head assembly 11 and thetank 10.

A tube coupling 15 forming the upper end of an elongated tube passing upwithin the tank 10 is threadedly secured to the underside of the headassembly 11. Conpling 15 defines in part a valve chamber having a lowerannular shoulder 16 for seating one end of a compression spring 17. Theother'upper end of the spring 17 rests on an annular shoulder 18 of avalve member 19. The compression spring 17 will serves to bias the valvemember 19 against an annular'seat 20 in the head assembly 11.

The upper end of the valve member 19 is rigidly secured to a valve stem21 passing through a small chamber 22 to protrude from the upper end ofthe head assembly as shown. The chamber 22 is placed in communicationwith the interior of the coupling 15 when the valve member 19 and stem21 are depressed against the biasing force of the spring 17 asillustrated in Figure present invention to provide an improved valveactuating mechanism in a fire extinguisher head assembly in whichmaximum opening of the valve may be accomplished with a minimum movementof the lever or other actuating means.

More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide animproved valve stem actuating mechanism which will insure positive andmaximum opening of a valve so that a sutficient volume of extinguishingagent may be discharged to eifectively combat a fire.

Briefly, these and other objects and advantages of the present inventionare attained by providing a novel head assembly including a firstactuating lever pivoted to the head assembly intermediate its ends at apoint adjacent the valve stem. Rather than have any portion of thislever engage the valve stem directly, there is additionally provided anelongated second lever also pivoted to the head assembly adjacent anopposite side of the valve stem. The forward portion of the first leveris dimensioned to extend beyond the valve stem and also beyond thepivoting point of the second lever and is provided 2. An-outlet passage23 passes from the chamber 22 through a flexible nozzle coupling 24 tothe extinguisher hose nozzle (not shown).

Referring again to Figure 1, there is provided a second lever element 25pivoted to the head assembly at 26 and having one end arranged to engagethe upper end of the valve stem 21 as at 27. The opposite end of thesecond lever element is in turn arranged to be engaged by a lift cam pin28 constituting an engaging means at the nose or forward portion of afirst actuating lever 29. The first lever 29 is in turn pivoted at 30 tothe head assembly for arcuate movement.

In the arrangement of Figure l, the pivoting of the first lever 29 isimmediately adjacent one side of the valve stem 21 while the pivotingpoint 26 for the second lever 25 is adjacent an opposite side of thestem 21. The forward portion of the first lever 29 extends beyond thestem 21 to the far end of the second lever 25 passing thereover anddownwardly such that the engaging means in the form of the pin 28 maylift against this other end of the second lever.

Adjacent the nose portion of the operating or first lever 29 there isprovided a simple pull pin 31 adapted to pass through registeredopenings in the valve head assembly and nose of the lever in order tolock thelever in its inoperative position when the extinguisher is notin use. The lever 29 may also include a downwardly depending partition32 to prevent tampering of the valve actuating mechanism. A conventionalhandle 33 is riveted to the head assembly for convenient carryingpurposes and for co-operation with the lever 29 in operating the same.

In extinguishers of the type illustrated in Figure 1, it is desirable toprovide a pressure gauge for indicating the pressure within the tank atall times. To this end, there may be provided a small passage 34 in thehead assembly 11 communicating with the tank 10 and passing up to acentral outlet 35 to which a pressure gauge (not shown) is attached.

Referring now to Figure 2, the operation of the valve actuatingmechanism will be described. When it is desired to operate theextinguisher, the pull pin 31 is removed to free the registered opening36 at the nose portion of the lever 29. The handle 33 is then grasped bythe user and the first lever manually pivoted about the pivot point 30in a clockwise direction as shown in Figure 2. Arcuate movement of thelever 29 about thepivot point 30 cams the far endof the cam element 25upwardly to arcuately rotate the second lever also in a clockwisedirection about the pivot point 26. As a result of this latter rotation,the end of the second lever 25 engaging the valve stem '21 at 27 movesarcuately downwardly to depress the valve stem 21 and valve member 19thereby opening the valve and permitting the extinguishing agent underhighpressure to escape through the nozzle coupling 24 as-indicated bythe arrows. Upon release of the lever 29, the biasing spring 17 urgesthe valve member 19 and valve stem 21 upwardly to rotate the secondlever 25 in a counter-clockwise direction to thereby depress the noseportion of the first lever 29 through engagement of the second leverwith the lift pin 28.

The dimensioning of the first lever- 29, second lever 25 and positioningof the pivot points 30 and 26 are such that there is a multiplication inthe degree of arcuate movement between that of the first lever 29 andthe second lever 25. Thus, as clearly illustrated in FigureZ, movementof the lever 29 through an angle as indicated at 37 results in acorresponding greater angular movement of the second lever 25 asindicated at 38. This latter angular movement represents an increase inmovement over that of the lever'itself whereby the valve stem 21 ismoved a greater distance than would be the case were the lever to beardirectly against the valve stem. In such latter case when the firstlever 29 is used alone, it would have to be pivoted forward of the stem21 and the distance that the stem 21 could be moved would be extremelylimited. Thus, with the use of the second lever, complete opening of thevalve is assured even though the lever 29 is only moved through a smallarc; therefore, more rapid, positive, and reliable operation of theextinguisher is attained.

Minor modifications within the scope and spirit of the present inventionwill occur to those skilled in the art. The valve actuating mechanismis, therefore, not to be thought of as limited to the exact structureshown for illustrative purposes.

What is claimed is:

1. In a fire extinguisher head assembly including a valve and a valvestem adapted to open a valve means within said head assembly uponmovement of said stem, means for effecting said movement of said stemcomprising, in combination: a first lever; means for pivoting said firstlever to said head assembly for arcuate movement about a first axispassing adjacent one side of said valve stem; a second lever; means forpivoting said second lever to said head assembly for arcuate movementabout a second axis passing adjacent the opposite side of said valvestem, said second lever having one portion positioned to engage saidstem, a portion of said first lever extending beyond said second axis;and 21 engagement means at said portion adapted to engage anotherportion of said lever whereby pivoting movement of said first leverpivots said second lever.

2. In a fire extinguisher head assembly including a valve stem adaptedto be moved a given distance to operate said extinguisher, means foreffecting movement of said valve stem through said given distancecomprising, in combination: a first lever; means for pivoting said firstlever intermediate its ends to said head assembly adjacent said valvestem, said first lever having a rearwardly extending portion adapted tobe manually depressed and a forward portion adapted to extend past saidvalve stem; a second lever; means for pivoting said second leverintermediate its ends to said head assembly between the end of saidforward portion and said valve stem, one end of said second lever beingpositioned to engage said stem; and means at said forward portion ofsaid first lever engaging the other end of said second lever wherebypivotal movement of said first lever through a given are rotates saidone end of said second lever through a larger arc whereby movement ofsaid valve stem through said given distance can be effected.

3. The subject matter of claim 2, including a downwardly directedpartition intermediate the rearwardly extending portion of said firstlever and the pivoting means therefor adapted to abut against said headassembly upon movement of said first lever through said given are.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 66,360King July 2, 1867 910,223 Norling Jan. 19, 1909 2,644,313 Griggs July 7,1953

